Crestview High teacher faces DUI, drug charges

A math teacher at Crestview High School has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence.

LAUREN DELGADO / Daily News

CRESTVIEW — A math teacher at Crestview High School has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence.

An Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy saw a 2013 Nissan Altima traveling 46 mph in a 35 mph zone on eastbound U.S. Highway 98 in Destin about 3:28 a.m. Saturday, according to the arrest report. The deputy stopped the car after he saw it weaving.

The driver, 26-year-old Brittney Anna Bowman, had red, glassy eyes and was slurring her speech, the deputy noted in the arrest report. A strong odor of alcohol also was coming from the car.

When Bowman stepped out of the car for field sobriety tests, she dropped a small plastic baggy of white powder, the report said. After Bowman took the sobriety tests and was arrested, the baggy was tested and found positive for cocaine.

Read a copy of the arrest reports. >>

Bowman was placed in the Okaloosa County Jail on $3,000 bond. She was released on Sunday.

Crestview High Principal Bob Jones said Bowman was no longer teaching as of Monday. Whether she resigned or was fired, he would not say. A substitute teacher has taken over her Algebra I classes.

“We have a good teacher in there now and our focus is on making sure these kids get taught algebra,” Jones said.

Bowman had been at Crestview for about three weeks, Jones said. She replaced assistant football coach and teacher Blake Moore, who resigned in October after allegations of inappropriate physical contact with two students.

“She was doing a great job in the classroom,” said Jones, who added that he recently had observed one of her lessons.

Bowman had been arrested previously. In November 2006, she was charged with burglary of a business, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence and criminal mischief, according to Okaloosa County Jail records.

She pleaded no contest and was given two years’ probation, according to Clerk of the Court records.

She also was asked to make restitution to the victim and write a letter of apology to the officer.

Every school district employee gets a background check, Jones said. He was made aware of her prior arrest soon after she was hired full time. Bowman had her Florida teaching certificate and her hire was authorized by the district.

“Whatever she had in her past not serious enough for the district not to hire her,” Jones said.